Russians Have Restricted Internet In Crimea Until The End Of The War

• 23.12.2025, 15:23

Residents of the peninsula were urged to come to terms.

Mobile Internet has been restricted in occupied Crimea until the full-scale war in Ukraine is over, the Russian-appointed head of the peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov, has said. "Here we just have to come to terms with it, engage in a different mode of operation. <�...> I consider these measures sufficient to ensure the security of Crimea," Aksyonov said. According to him, "it was impossible to do otherwise". He also noted that the Internet can serve "both good purposes and bad," writes The Moscow Times.

Before that, Crimean mobile operator Volna said it had restricted the work of messengers WhatsApp and Telegram, citing Roskomnadzor's decision. Local authorities also claimed that the issues of disabling mobile communications and internet during drone attacks undergo mandatory coordination with federal structures. Crimea became the second region of Russia, whose residents were left without mobile Internet until the end of the war. In November, such a decision was made by the authorities of the Ulyanovsk region. At the same time, they referred to a certain decision of the federal center to expand the "security zone" around strategic facilities.

In the course of the "direct line" Putin said that the disconnections of mobile Internet are necessary to ensure security. He said internet services located abroad help the enemy "select targets for strikes" with drones via the internet. But how this happens technically, he did not explain.

The Russian authorities have been "jamming" the mobile Internet since the spring of this year. Mostly it happens during Ukrainian drone raids, but in some regions long-lasting blockades are introduced. For example, in St. Petersburg in mid-December, the Internet disappeared for more than a week. The shutdown was commented not by the governor of the 6.5-million-strong city, but by the head of another subject - the Leningrad Region Alexander Drozdenko. According to him, "law enforcement agencies, based on the operational situation," block or slow down certain sites and temporarily limit mobile communication for the sake of security, "taking into account the geopolitical location of the region."

With this background, the Ministry of Digital Affairs has compiled a "white list" of sites that should remain available during a mobile Internet outage. The list includes more than 60 resources and services, including applications of major banks, marketplaces, Russian social networks, as well as sites of pro-governmental media. However, they are not working properly in all regions, which makes it impossible for Russians to pay for goods and services, work and study remotely, and travel by cab and public transportation.